1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to devices for holding, drinking vessels and containers as well as to novelty devices, and more particularly to a novelty drinking vessel holding device which facilitates simultaneous consumption of drinks or beverages by two or more individuals in a festive manner.
2. Preliminary Discussion
A variety of foods and beverages may be provided at many if not most social events and gatherings, and often serve as an important part of the festivities. For example, typical foods may range from, depending upon the type of event, grilled items such as hamburgers and hot dogs, finger foods, hors d'oeuveres and the like, or full course meals, while typical beverages include soft drinks, wine, beer, mixed alcoholic drinks, cocktails, as well as alcohol shots. Consumption of alcoholic beverages is common, of course, at both private parties and gatherings as well as at bars, inns, taverns, and nightclubs. For some groups, particularly those in their 20s and early 30s and including college students, beer is the drink of choice, and various simplistic beer drinking social games have been developed, such as to race or consume cups or even larger containers of such beverage as quickly as possible, with the person finishing such drink the fastest being declared the winner. At other usually more formal events, wine or shots containing alcohol are routinely consumed by several individuals in unison as a toast or celebratory symbol, either to commemorate the occurrence of a significant event, or merely as part of the festivities. While traditions vary greatly depending on the country or culture, in many cultures consumption of shots of alcohol or other drinks by multiple persons altogether is seen as a bonding event between such persons, and in fact, those persons who are present at such bonding event and choose not to participate are often, at least temporarily, seen as not being “team players”, and such person or persons commitment to a group cause or the like therefore may be questioned.
While there are, as a result, numerous possible circumstances where drinks, cocktails, or other beverages may be consumed simultaneously by two or more persons, in most of such situations each participant will hold his or her own individual glass, cup, or other drinking vessel and then, usually upon some explicit or implicit signal, will altogether commence consumption of the contents of such vessels. The present inventor, however, has now conceived of an improved holding device for such individual vessels that can be used at virtually any social gathering or event, wherein upon the occurrence of a simultaneous drinking moment, each drinking vessel is first secured to such holding device and filled with a drink, and then the participants will lift the drinking vessel holder and consume their drinks in unison. As illustrated in the following review of the prior art, although previous attempts have been made to devise multiple beverage holders, the present invention incorporates features not found in or taught by any combination of such previous arrangements, and the present inventor further believes that such features make the present invention safer, easier, and more desirable to use and attractive than any of such previous arrangements. The present inventor's novel holding device not only facilitates simultaneous toasting or beverage consumption, but also even further increases the bonding or social nature of an event by encouraging the participants to physically interact and work together by balancing and holding a single device, thereby increasing the significance and memorableness of the event both in the minds of the participants as well as onlookers.
3. Description of Related Art
The patented prior art with respect to devices for facilitating simultaneous consumption of a beverage by two or more persons for celebratory or other purposes evidences numerous double-cup arrangements and vessel holders. The most relevant of such prior art references known to the present inventor are disclosed and discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,558,645 issued to E. W. D. Docter on Jun. 26, 1951, entitled “Beverage Sipper”, discloses a device for enabling several persons to sip from a single beverage vessel simultaneously. The Docter device is secured in the bottom of a beverage container or bowl by a suction cup, and is comprised of a cylindrical straw holder having multiple individual straws. Such device, wherein multiple persons drink from the same container simultaneously, may be objectionable to some as being unsanitary, while the present invention facilitates concurrent drinking from separate or different containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,821,307 issued to D. L. Linsley on Jan. 28, 1958, entitled “Holder for Fuses and Other Articles”, discloses a molded plastic holder for holding multiple related objects such as electrical fuses including a series of longitudinally spaced-apart cupped sockets in which such objects are placed and held. While the Linsley holder is structurally somewhat similar to one embodiment of the present invention, it is not indicated as possibly being used as a holder provided for simultaneous consumption of beverages such as the coordinated activities facilitated by the present invention, and furthermore it would not be obvious to use it in such a manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,318 issued to M. A. Donatello et al. on Oct. 13, 1987, entitled “Drinking Apparatus”, discloses another device for enabling multiple persons to drink from the same container simultaneously. Such device is comprised of a circular base member having several tubes connected to spaced apart nipples. The device is placed in the bottom of a pitcher with the tubes extending upwardly out of the pitcher, so that each user simply places his or her mouth over the upper end of one of the tubes and creates a suction so that the beverage is drawn through the tubes into their mouths: A check valve is provided on each tube so that fluid can flow in a single direction. While the Donatello invention appears to be more sanitary than the Docter simultaneous sipper discussed above, such invention is structurally very different from the present invention, in which individual beverage containers or vessels are held together.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,503 issued to M. L. Propes on Sep. 11, 1990, entitled “Partitioned Drinking Cup”, discloses a cup that is divided into two separate drink or beverage containing compartments, each having its own straw, and the cup being provided with separate handles. While the Propes cup enables two persons to drink from beverages stored in separate compartments, the Propes cup is otherwise dissimilar to the present invention, which is not a cup but a multiple beverage vessel holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,087 issued to G. D. Mandell on Nov. 3, 1992, entitled “Drinking Straw”, discloses a straw having a single tubular inlet with a chamber situated on its upper end, with at least two drinking outlets connected to such tubular inlet leading out of the chamber. While such device is unique in that it enables two or more persons to drink simultaneously from the same container, and it is difficult for one person to drink from his or her straw alone, as this would cause the straw to become an “open system” and reduce the suction on the straw, nevertheless such arrangement is not similar to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,501 issued to G. Wright et al. on Aug. 10, 1999, entitled “Beverage Container for Use with Drinking Cup”, discloses a container which when inserted into a drinking cup divides the cup into at least two separate liquid holding compartments. While two persons presumably could drink from the separate containers simultaneously, the primary purpose of such invention appears to be to enable a single person to store two separate drinks or drink flavors in a single container.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,845 issued to M. A. Mueller on Feb. 29, 2000, entitled “Floating Beverage Holder”, discloses a holder for a plurality of beverage cups wherein the cups are secured in cavities or pockets in the holder, and which holder floats. The round shape of the Mueller holder is not conducive to simultaneous drinking from vessels stored in such holder, as the holder could not be tilted in any single direction that would allow such simultaneous beverage consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,460 issued to N. Rosenberg on Sep. 10, 2002, entitled “Method of Chilling and Consuming an Alcoholic Beverage and Apparatus Therefor”, discloses an insulated container for receiving lidded shot glasses having a base and removable cover. The container is placed in the freezer to chill the alcohol until it is desired to be consumed. Rosenberg indicates that by not having to move the chilled alcohol into a non-chilled glass for drinking, a better chilled and therefore better tasting drink or shot results. While Rosenberg therefore discloses a container for holding multiple shot glasses, such container clearly is not meant to be used in the same manner as the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,374 issued to M. J. Adjeleian on Jul. 22, 2003, entitled “Device for Securing Objects”, discloses a partial vacuum means for securing objects of different types to a surface. While apparently primarily for holding multiple beverage containers to a moving surface and still allowing the beverages to be lifted out of the holder and sipped whenever desired, such device does not facilitate simultaneous beverage consumption in a manner similar to the present invention.
The inventor is also aware of several design patents directed to double cup arrangements. U.S. DESIGN Pat. No. 34,918 issued to H. L. Wheeler on Aug. 13, 1901, entitled “Cup”, discloses a drinking vessel having twin cup sections joined by an intermediate fluted section. U.S. DESIGN Pat. No. 206,943 issued to J. Kinney on Feb. 14, 1967, entitled “Double Martini Glass”, discloses an ornamental design for a martini glass having a single base and a pair of stems supporting separate liquid holding vessels. U.S. DESIGN Pat. No. 218,350 issued to R. P. Marks on Aug. 11, 1970, entitled “Novelty Drinking Vessel”, discloses an ornamental design for a vessel comprised of a pair of mugs joined together by a rod or tube. U.S. DESIGN Pat. No. issued to A. Premji on Apr. 1, 2003, entitled “Cup”, discloses an ornamental design for a drinking vessel having the appearance of two cups that are joined together along one wall to form a single vessel. Of such designs, only the Marks design appears to be possibly for use in the manner similar to the present invention, and such drinking vessel is structurally dissimilar to the present inventor's holder.
U. K. PAT. NO. GB 2,293,750 issued to H. Hung and published on Oct. 4, 1996, entitled “A Double-Cup Drinking Vessel”, discloses a drinking vessel designed such that two persons can drink from the container at the same time. The middle area of the cup between the two drinking bowls includes a recess wherein liquid poured in such recess will flow into both bowls. While Hung also therefore teaches a double drinking vessel, it does not show a holding device for separate drinking vessels whereby double or simultaneous drinking can occur.
The present inventor is aware that one or more others have developed crude or homemade beverage vessel holding devices wherein two or more disposable plastic drinking cups were secured to a board member such that when the board was held by two or more persons and tipped toward such persons, the contents of the cups could be consumed simultaneously. In addition, at the web address www.skitini.com, there is shown an old ski having several martini glasses permanently secured thereto. While such devices are broadly used in the same manner as the present inventor's holding device, the present inventor has through extensive experimentation and design efforts devised numerous improvements not present in or anticipated by any such other arrangements. While each of the prior art references discussed above are each suitable for their particular purposes, none of such references discloses a holding device which facilitates simultaneous beverage consumption by multiple persons wherein each person drinks from his or her own separate drink vessel, but wherein all of which vessels have been preferably temporarily but securely affixed to the holding device, and wherein two or more of the holding devices may be secured together end-to-end in order to further increase the number of participants in such simultaneous drinking event. In addition, the inventor has also discovered that the surface area of the holding device is extremely useful as an advertising device, and that the holder can be decorated or provided in a virtually unlimited number of colors or designs and may include whatever advertising indicia on its surface as may be desired.